I've been thinking about this for a while.  I daydream, but I don't really believe in dreams come true.  Somehow, a few things I used to dream of became reality:

1) Always wanted to live by myself - 2002, I finally moved out of my parent's...mom was so angry she didn't talk to me for 2 week!
2) A non-clingy boyfriend - 2003, I met Mr. A...he's so non-clingy sometimes I mistaken him for not caring.
3) Having my own place - 2004, with my parent's help I got an apt in a remote area far from the city center...it's so remote->
4) I wanted to move back to the city - 2008, lucky enough to have sold my old apt and everything else I could to get my new apt in the city.
5) Non-clingy bf live not too close but close enough - my new apt in the city center is practically 5 minutes walk from Mr. A's apt.
6) Evil aunt quit working for my parents - from the beginning, I knew she's a 2-face monster and wondered why she didn't quit sooner as she appeared to hate her job and us for years.  Finally, she quit in Jan, 2008.  

Now that I've got a taste of it, I want more. 

It's so wonderful to get the things you want...may your dreams come true too.
  

why does good food have to be so fatty?  pretty shoes and clothes have to be so uncomfortable?

When Mr. A (half-heartedly) asked if I want to join him on his US-Canada trip, no way I thought I can because of work.  It was have been a real shock to him (might even been a bit uncomfortable) when I said "I'm coming with you."  I've always thought it'd be nice if I can show him the familar places in SF myself.  Thanks to cousin-Q, I got on board to this trip.  With 2 new staffs who's still not on auto pilot mode at work, it's risky for me to take 3 weeks off.  But I thought this is the best shot I've got...going back to SF with Q and Mr. A, and have a sort of 10yr reunion with my friends in Vegas!!!  So, here's the plan...

10-14Jul-09 SF (Hotel Rex in downtown)
14-19Jul-09 LV (Paris Hotel)
19-20Jul-09 Calgarary (Westin downtown)
20-22Jul-09 Banff (Mr. A hasn't booked a place yet)
22-26Jul-09 LA (Bro's new home)

I'm soooooooooo excited!

when your workers start pushing the boundary and testing your limits, what do you do?  what CAN you do?  the mediocre ones are as bad as they are.  even the reliable/responsible ones become distracted and start slacking off and become less responsible.

people are so difficult.  i preferred working alone since i was a kid...never liked team projects.  even in yoga class, sometimes we have to pair up for some exercise.  never liked it.  customers are very difficult as well.  wish i don't have to deal with any human beings...too hard.

urrrrrrrgh

Many thoughts often go through my mind while resting at the end of my yoga practice.  [I'm not supposed to think of anything at that stage of the practice.  ]  A few days ago, thoughts invaded again.  I saw myself river rafting on Russian River...with my brother-K, cousins and friends.  It's a memory from nearly 20 years ago.  A very happy memory, thanks to my big cousin-Big Al.  He used to go on these day trips+camping trips+parties at his friends and always invites me and my brother-K along.  If it wasn't for Big-Al, my pathetic teenage life would have been much more miserable.  It was Big-Al's birthday the day these wonderful memories hit me.  I miss the good old days and want to say "Thank You" to Big Al for the first time.  Thanks for keeping us beneath your wings all those years!

When was the last time I had so much fun?  Don't remember...especially with Q there.    I thank the party organizers for giving me this opportunity...even the bun on the back of my head is perfect!  (Thanks to the professional L'Oreal tin bottle hair spray!)

...my perfect bun...
...my party outfit...
..ALL you can DRINK...
...Perfect way to end a meal...White Chocolate Moose Cake with Raspberries...YUM...

I was invited to a Shanghai 30s theme party on Feb 28.  It's probably a once in a life time opportunity, so I signed up immediately and asked my dearest cousin, Q, to be my plus one.  The ladies are supposed to wear dresses 30s style (Chinese or Western).  I thought I'd go for Western because there's no way I can find Chinese traditional dress that can fit me.  And I'd probably look silly anyway. 

The party was so much fun from the minute I was invited.  Not only I can have a fun time with Q (it's been too long) at the party, we can also shop together for the event.  She brought be to a shop where I ended up buying a  Chinese dress that fits me...a little too tight but it looked much better than I expected. 


I knew if I want to be comfortable in this dress, I have to cut down my food consumption big time...but of course I can't do it.  So the week before the party, I tried to have just soup for dinner.  Being a very creative cook, I added lots of goodies in to my soup each night.  And I've been going to yoga at least 4 times a week for 3 weeks.  In the end, I lost ONE pound after all the effort...and the dress was still too tight.  Thank goodness the dress didn't break on me...haha

It was a few weeks ago (must have been Sunday).  I was got home just in time to see the sunset.,,right from my living room.  It was so beautiful.  I feel so lucky to have this apartment and I'm truly grateful to all the people who's helped me along the way.

It was time to renew my webhosting & domain name again.  Can't believe another year is over so quick.  Not complaining, because last year wasn't exacatly spectacular.  Though it was slightly better than the year before.  2009 seems to be not so bad so far.  The economy might be bad, but personally I feel things in many area of my life are quite smooth.  Let's hope the worst are over and more good things will happen in the coming months.

Remember I wanted to cook a leg of lamb for my mom?  The "leg" (opportunity) had not present itself until last Sunday.  Mr. A wanted to bake bread and I wanted to try the Corn Muffin receipt, so we decided to go food shopping together after having lunch on Sunday.

I saw this gorgeous leg of lamb, chilled, in the fridge and couldn't resist and bought it.  Right after finish baking the muffins,  "worked" on the leg. 

Prep work: Stuff a few branches of rosemary into the leg, then rub sea salt and other spice and some vodka all over it.  Should have marinate it overnight, but you know I cannot wait to cook it! 


Roast it in the oven at 180F for about 2.5hours.  The leg is as long as my small oven.  I was afraid it couldn't fit in.  Whew...



Took a 10min taxi ride to my parent's city-home...


The center of the leg is a bit pink.  That makes the meat a perfect medium rare.  Yummy!  The 4 of us could only finish 1/3 of it.  So yummy, even my mom said it's nice.  (You have to know my mom hardly ever give me any compliments!  :"))